Commercial Desensitizers

I don’t see many commercials anymore, thanks to the wonder of the DVR. I happened to catch one at my parents’ the other day, though, and I can’t stop thinking about it. It makes “Kill your TV” seem like pretty sound advice:

The ad, for Clorox Wipes, shows a woman coming home to find Grandpa making two chicken carcasses dance around on a coffee table, strung up as marionette puppets, while his two grandchildren look on. Everyone seems to be having a grand old time. We’re shown this scene simply as an amusing reminder of all of the things that go on in the house when you’re not around, and how much disinfectant is needed to save you from germy unknown deeds. There is no regard, of course, for the fact that the headless puppets on that coffee table used to be living, breathing beings.

This is, after all, what we do. We treat animals as props, as play things, and if we acknowledge them as beings at all, we do it in such a way as to perpetuate the lie we’ve been told our whole lives. Charlie Tuna wants you to eat great tasting fish. Those California Happy Cows want you to drink their milk. All of these marketing tactics are jovial, light-hearted, and completely devoid of a kernel of truth.

Truth, after all, doesn’t sell product, and companies simply want you to remember their commercials next time you go to the supermarket and see their product on the shelf. Big business doesn’t want its customers to think for themselves or to question their tactics. That would hurt the bottom line. They do their best to desensitize you and it starts when you’re a child, that way your compassion can be stifled ASAP.

John Lennon once sang, “Living is easy with eyes closed” and it’s a statement that has really resonated with me over the past few years. He may have had a point, but hell if I’m not thankful to have opened my eyes.

Photo credit: Oblivious Dude via Flickr